Chief Stipe

Taranaki RI - Abandoned Following a slip in the first and a subsequent inspection, the track has been deemed unsafe for racing.

Yep it is. But if you have scanned in at any one of the outlets in the mall and one of those hundreds returns a positive test then you are staying at home for the next 7 days at least. But you are not essential to run a race meeting. So yes you could attend the race meeting but the prudent thing (because of the rules) is to not allow you any contact with anyone that has contact with a Trainer or Driver on the day.

Come on @Gammalite you've hunted your horse out of the gate to get the lead, the momentum over the first 200m sees you out by a few lengths and YOU want to pull up on the reins! You better than anyone knows the risk of that. The horse is bowling along relaxed on the bit and doing roughly 30.5 second sectionals. Why hand up the momentum advantage you got? But every other horse ran a faster 400m at some stage during the race. So you expect Cox to be looking around to see how far out in front he is? You know that can unbalance a horse. The horse was on the bit, not on a loose rein and the whip not shown. You see this all the time in Ozzie races. All said and done it did go a bit quick for the first half but not by much.

LOL actually Buena Vista is one of those horses that you would try and get a share in and get it to Woodend Beach and build some stamina into it. Nicely gaited and can run a sectional.

Disagree with that. Maybe only one horse slightly held up. If you have a look at the Stridemaster reports you will see it wasn't going all that quicker than 15 second 200m sectionals. https://www.addington.co.nz/stridemaster/fri-04-02-22/ The only 200m that was a bit fast was the second 200m. It looked worse than it was because the second and third horses weren't keeping the field up. @Gammalite and @Forbury I'm not an expert on sectionals but from a mobile start drawn the outside of the front line is 29.64 all that quick for the first 400m? 60.12 for the first 800m? Every other horse in the race ran a faster 200m and 400m sectional at some stage during the race. See attached document. 2022-02-04_32_HRNZ_Stridemaster-details-simple.pdf

I don't think you can lay all the blame for this with HRNZ. The issue is the Government's stupid and unworkable Red Light Rules. Yes I agree HRNZ should be able to organise for Owner's to attend meetings where their horses are racing. BUT... It is technically a work place and I can't see any way of forestalling a complete close down of racing than by separating the workers (Drivers and Trainers) from the Owners and Public. What happens when ONE driver returns a positive test? Are all the other drivers considered close contacts and have to self-isolate? If that happens there goes racing. I'm not sure what HRNZ's policy is regarding Rapid Antigen Testing but NZTR are getting Jockey's to RAT test before entering a meeting. But that only forestalls the inevitable which is up to 24 days quarantine for all contacts of that Jockey. Many small and medium size business owners are not going to test so their businesses survive. So I wouldn't like to be HRNZ trying to work their way through this Labour Government mess of a system. Once the virus hits high numbers I'm picking you will see more and more non-compliance. Racing doesn't have enough street cred to lead that charge!

Not all of them.

Eh?

That doesn't matter too much when you can still maintain the same or more punting turnover. In the old days they only way you could get a good punt on was on course. Now we multi-task. For example I've backed horses while in the stand at an All Black test and while at breakfast with a good looking woman (the race was across time zones!). BUT I do believe if you build up the grass roots (the provinces) then people WILL come to town. When people come to town the town people come out. That's what I like about Victoria Racing's Midway and Highway promotions. That's why I don't want to see either Ellerslie OR Alexandra Park fail because if you get the basics right they will once again be big revenue generating venues. Great horses help too. Build from the ground up and we can retain those crowd attracting horses. Sadly I thought Gold Watch might have been one of those.

I've always been a proponent of the approach: "If what you are currently doing isn't working do the complete opposite." Add to that "Don't believe your own fucking propaganda! When you do you fail." That last one is aimed at the TAB.

Perhaps not....but they sure as hell were competitive and were skilled at setting up the horse for the big punt (something you seem to be adverse to). It wasn't all for love! But the hobby was less expensive then for an owner and the odd punting coup and the home town cred from having a winning horse meant the losses were small. Hell we can't even go pat a horse now at the races unlike when I was a kid. Not even the Clerk of the Course grey one!

I realise this could be construed as a habit.....BUT I disagree. Sport isn't declining - just the models of engagement are changing and it is more competitive. Globally investment in sport and its economic activity is growing faster than Global GDP. It is just New Zealand that is falling behind.

That's special. Nothing like good free legged trotters in full flight. I had the joy of working a pacer unhobbled on a beach a few years back. She got it into her head to trot and picked up the bit. We were flying down the beach skipping along the waters edge. Both of us enjoying it immensely. I'm not so sure the Trainer was too impressed....as we were working faster than ordered.

Perhaps one of those racecourses they are going to "retire" could be the Dual Code Training and Research Centre.

Wouldn't it be innovative of the two horse codes to get together and develop a training centre for young people in NZ. They wouldn't have to look hard to find suitable horses. Geez they could even centralise the RIB Testing and Equine Research investments. Yeah na.....no room in Parnell or Petone for horses.

Yeah @Gammalite I just did a Google Maps flyover around Melton. Tracks everywhere. Used to be like that in Canterbury. 28 Harness Tracks in Victoria. Racing 7 days a week. They've made big investments in Melton (40km from Melbourne Central) and at Bendigo they have a Harness Training Centre offering Career Training. http://www.hrtcbendigo.com.au/welcome/ Perhaps that's the sort of vision both NZTR and HRNZ need in NZ.

So they are getting stronger? Where is the main Harness Training Centre in Melbourne?

Am I wrong @Brodie and @Gammalite but isn't Harness Racing in Queensland, NSW and Victoria getting stronger? If so why?

In a way I agree with @curious and I also agree with you @Gammalite. In my opinion both Ellerslie AND Alexandra Park need a pool of locally trained horses.

So move all Harness Racing to Canterbury?

Good spotting.

9 starts per horse over 6 months. Although that is a bit misleading. Wannabe N Paris has had 17 starts this season but he has backed it up in short spurts of 3 then a reasonable break. Not unheard of in old days less so today.

I guess some will say Woodend Beach should be banned as a PED.

Being able to work the horses at pace on an uncambered straight line over distance is a huge advantage. Evens them up physically and you can pinpoint gait and minor injury issues more easily.